Holy Opposites 57

	Luanea sprinted after the running cultist.  She and I were the fastest of the group, and we were slowly losing ground on the Baneite.  He was slamming and locking doors behind him, but they were flimsy wood, not the heavy stone of the portal room.  My glaive solved those problems adroitly.  My breath was ragged in my chest from running in a full armor suit.  Luanea was faring better, but not by much.

	Finally, the inevitable happened.  We reached another stone door.  My glaive rebounded off the lock.  “FUCK!” I snapped.  “We’re going to lose him!”

	The others ran in behind us and slowed when they saw our progress had halted.  “Locked?” Axio asked tersely.

	“Locked.”  I kicked the stone in frustration.  It didn’t budge.  “Doshellas, can you get this?”

	The ranger was panting, but he nodded.  He knelt next to the door and took out his tools.  While he worked, I sat on a nearby table and tried to catch my breath.  Kyria hopped on the table next to me, looking a bit winded herself.  We watched Doshellas work the lock in silence for a few minutes as the sound of panting faded.

	“Sssooooo…” Kyria said awkwardly.  “Uh… you’re, uh, you’re a devil, then?” she asked.

	I sighed.  “Yes.  You’re an elf, I gather?”

	“Well… I mean, I’ve never met a devil before,” Kyria said uncomfortably.

	“And I’ve never met a dark elf.  Just drow.”  I turned to look at her through my magic disguise.  “So this is a learning opportunity.”

	She was looking very uncomfortable now.  “Well… uh… how did you come to work for Ryaire?” Kyria finally asked.

	“I was thrown out of Hell and landed in the Abyss.  An angel found me and took me to Arvandor.  A Noble Eladrin there diverted me to Ryaire, she deprogrammed me, and I took her job offer.  Short version.”  I shrugged.  “It’s worked pretty well.”

	Kyria looked like she was struggling to take it all in.  “Wow.  You’ve had an… interesting life.”  She screwed up her face.  “I’m just… I thought devils were inherently evil.”

	“Devils have no souls, so they have little free will.”  I thought back to my horrible creation and shuddered.  “I do.  I can choose my own fate, just like Luanea did.”

	“Huh.”  Kyria looked down at her hands.  “Okay.  I just… I dunno, I thought… I would probably be a lot more freaked out under more casual circumstances.”

	I stared at her.  “So?  Doshellas and Luanea found out in the middle of a battle.  Look, you can ask me questions if you want, but now’s not the time,” I said.  I saw Doshellas standing up.  “Okay, we’re on.”

	The ranger stepped back and pushed the door in.  Axio charged through, but immediately lowered his sword.  “Oh, for goodness’ sake,” he grumbled.


	I followed him through and groaned.  There was nothing in the room but a few dead torches in wall sconces and a large metal door on the far wall.  It was obviously a puzzle door.  There were three large holes in the mechanism in the center, and a variety of small discs on the wall in a basket.

	“Fuck.  We don’t have time for this,” I said angrily.  “Anybody seen these before?”

	“I have,” Kyria said.  “Hang on.  You gotta assemble these in the right way.”

	She and Suivi pulled the discs out of the basket and started piecing them into larger shapes while the rest of us stood about.  Axio walked over to the stone door behind us and kept watch.  I just sat down next to the door and tried to force down my tension.  We just didn’t have the time to waste.


Chapter Thirty-Three:


	Bastienne Toller sat in the cell of the Watch post with his hands tied behind his back.  He stared at the floor in blank hate.

	There was nothing for him here.  He wanted to serve the Master, and of course, to do the work of Hate, but now all he had was the floor and the local drunks.  There was no news from the outside.  He felt the phantom glass tubes pierce his skin in a sudden flashback to his reeducation, and he whimpered.  He hadn’t felt so helpless even during the height of his torture in the Harness.

	The Watch officer outside his cell looked up briefly, noted Toller’s lack of movement, and looked back down to his game of solitaire.  Toller sighed and closed his eyes.  How could he even do his duty now?  At least Vorthane would have the chance to react now that Toller had sent the accursed Paladins to the basement instead of anywhere important.


	I stretched and smacked my lips.  The wait for the puzzle to end was interminable.  With no natural light, there was no way to mark the passage of time.  Suivi and Kyria had solved two puzzle keys and put them in the right slots, and now they were struggling with the third.

	Doshellas had taken Axio’s place at the door.  Axio himself was slowly pacing the far side of the room, clenching and unclenching his fists.  He looked about as nervous as ever.  I stood and walked over to where he was tracing a path in the floor.  “Hey, Axio,” I said softly.  “Do you want to talk?”

	He sighed and clasped his hands behind his back.  “I’m scared witless, Cavria.  I’m… not hiding it well.  I can joke in front of the others, but…” he said, almost silently.  “You know better.  I suspect Luanea can tell too.”

	I moved up behind him and slid my hands into his where they sat at the back of his armor.  “We’ll do our best, I promise,” I reassured him.  “Trust us.”

	“Yes, trust,” he muttered.  “I can think of few parties with more reasons to distrust each other than this.  Between the two of us mutating, you hiding your fiend nature, and Suivi switching sides, half the party is unstable.”

	I frowned and grabbed his shoulder, turning him to face me.  “Now you’re projecting,” I said crossly.  “We’re working together.  Don’t let this get to you.  We need you.  You’re the leader.”

	He started to object, and then paused.  “Fine.  Yes.  You’re right.  You’re right.”

	The door clunked open.  The others reached for their weapons and stood back.  The large metal panel swung into the room and stopped halfway.  Doshellas peeked through.  “Nothing.”

	“Probably setting up an ambush ahead,” Kyria remarked.  “We should be careful.”

	“Move out,” Axio said.  He grabbed his shield and took point.  “We’re finishing this nightmare.”


	Vorthane watched as they finally solved the puzzle that he had left on the wall.  Why they hadn’t just doubled back and taken the long route, he didn’t know, but now they were on the move again.  They would reach the stairs in minutes.

	He looked over at two men in armor beside the altar.  “Gentlemen, run through the portal downstairs and tell the defense team in the other end that our foes are on the move.  They should follow discreetly.  They will know when the time is right to strike.”

	“Yes, sir.  Which path should they take?” the cultist asked.

	“The one with the puzzle door.  Tell the team to follow in the intruders’ footsteps, but to stay undetected.”

	The cultist saluted and ran off.  Vorthane looked back to the floating image in the air before him and raised one of the metal slats affixed to his arm.  “Now, let us see how far you get,” he said softly.


	Axio looked up the steep stone stairs.  “Looks like this is the bottom of three levels,” he remarked.  “Suivi, any ideas about where to go next?”

	“Nope.”  The spy pushed his lanky grey hair out of his eyes.  “I’ve never even been to this temple.  I have no idea where to go.”

	“Then we go up one floor, clear it, go up to the top, clear that,” Luanea suggested.  “We should stick together and move quietly.”

	“Right.”  Axio gestured at the stairs with his sword.  “Move in single file.  Watch for traps on the walls.”


	Vorthane flicked his wrist, and one of the metal slats on his armor glowed.


	Axio gasped as a torch in the stairwell slipped from its sconce and landed on his head.  “Gah!  What?”  He slapped the torch aside before it could light his tabard.  “Where did that come from?”


	Vorthane flicked the metal slat, and all the other torches in the stairwell rose from their sconces, directed themselves at the Aasimar, and rocketed down.

	“LOOK OUT!” Luanea shouted.  She grabbed Suivi and dragged him back into the hallway behind them as Axio sprang aside.  He threw himself bodily under the stone stairs.  Dozens of pieces of burning wood slammed into the stone all around him, showering him with pitch and fire.

	Axio cried out in pain as a few torches actually bent their path around the stone to slam into him directly.  He grabbed at one and splintered it against the stones, rolled out of the path of another, and smashed a third with his shield.

	“What the hell is this?” Suivi demanded.  “Are we fighting a ghost?”

	“A psychic!” Axio said.  His voice cramped in pain as he rose from his hiding place.  Cavria rushed to his side and started healing him.  “The senior cultist cleric, he’s a psychic!”

	“Damnation, nobody told me!” Suivi said.  He looked up the tall stairs and quailed.  “How much more of that do you think he’s got?”

	“Not enough,” Doshellas said angrily.  “Move fast.”